Martial Arts lessons in Bridgnorth, Shropshire

Student Focus

We all start TKD for our own reasons, and we have a diverse range of ages and characters in our club! ‘Student Focus’ aims to help us get to know each other better and to see what everyone loves about Tae Kwon-Do!

Jack:

I started Taekwondo a Bridgnorth under a year ago. But I properly started Taekwondo at a local club when I was 4 in Hagley.

I started for self defence and discipline and for fitness.I’d say relearning my patterns is the most fun thing about Taekwondo. I tell my friends and family how much I enjoy Taekwondo. My proudest moment is when I fought in the South Island regional finals in New Zealand winning a silver medal.

I enjoy creating short films and animations, playing video games, golf and football. I learnt to Ski and Snowboard whilst living in New Zealand.Chris:

I started Tae Kwon-Do 15 years ago as I wanted to gain more confidence. I tried various sports, my parents found Bridgnorth Tae Kwon-Do where Gurdeep encouraged me to join in with the class. I enjoy learning and practicing patterns; along with self and knife defence. Outside of class Dan and I practice patterns and sparring together. One of my proudest moments would be when achieved my 1st Degree black belt, it took me a while to get there but I knew I had earned it when I was presented with my new black belt. Another moment I am proud of is taking my first class as an instructor on behalf of Gary and Anna, this is also something that I enjoy, helping others progress. Another hobby of mine is volunteering on the Severn Valley Railway.

Daniel:

I very first started taekwondo in 2002 with my dad, and I’ve been in and out ever since. I started because I had always been interested in learning self defence and have always been inspired by people such as Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Personally I’ve found taekwondo to be fantastic for both my physical and mental wellbeing. I’m also very passionate about mental health and am pursuing a career within psychology. I’d say my proudest and fondest memory was doing my first 360 degree kick without falling over.

Harry:

I started TKD aged 6 because my mom wanted me to try something different. I love sparring. It’s so much fun!

I play rugby, I’m on my trampoline every night running through my kicks, I do sit ups every night and practice my patterns in the garden.

My proudest achievement is my black stripe. It meant so much to me to get that. Everyone at school knew what that meant.

I love playing rugby. Trampolining. I also love playing on my laptop. Something you don’t know is I can do some really cool magic tricks.

Jack:

I first started at Bridgnorth TKD around Sept/Oct 2015, before this is I had done a 6 weeks mixed martial arts after school club where I gained my first belt, I was hooked from then, unfortunately the school club wasn’t continued so my mum searched for a club for me and found Bridgnorth TKD, I first felt nervous and excited but was eager to learn new patterns.

I’m really enjoying taekwondo, I learn something new each lesson, learning patterns takes a lot of focus and practice but it feels good once I’ve got the hang of it and I can work on my timings, powerful movements, attacks & defences.

Outside of the dojang, I go to squad training as much as possible, I practice at home in the garden and also watch clips on YouTube to help me perfect movements.

My biggest achievement so far is definitely getting my blue belt, I worked hard to try to overcome my nerves and once I achieved my blue belt I realised how close I am to getting my black belt now, which I’m eager to get before I’m 13 years old.

I aspire to be a 7th Dan and dream of representing England at the Olympics one day, in the mean time I want to get some more medals at tournaments and would like to work on my ability so that I can get higher grading marks.

My hobbies include football, swimming and playing Minecraft and Need for Speed.

Something that you don’t know about me is that I have a cat called Skittles but I call him skittzie, he’s a big cat and some people think he’s a bit scary because of his size, but really he’s just a big baby!

Aaron:

I started taekwondo at 9 years old in 2014, I wanted to learn how to protect myself. I like sparring best. My mum tests me on my theory and I like to show off my patterns to my family. My proudest moment in taekwondo was getting gold this year for sparring. I am now in scouts but I have been going since I was 6 to beavers and cubs. I also go to PQA drama school at weekends. I am an awesome dancer and love to listen to Ozzy Osborne.

Rob:

I started TKD 6 1/2 years ago.

My son had been doing TKD for about 12 months, I would take him twice a week and sit and watch. One night I decided to have a go and loved it. It was great to have an activity that we could do together.

After retiring from playing regular football I needed something to keep me fit and TKD is perfect, not only for fitness but flexibility too although I still struggle with my flexibility.

I really enjoy the camaraderie and the feeling of belonging to a club where everyone supports everyone else.

Outside of club I stretch at home regularly, train once a week in my home gym and watch endless sparring, stretching and patterns on YouTube which is great. Any spare weekends I have I try to attend seminars and GTI squad training once a month. But being a father of three, spare time is not a luxury I have much of!!

Proudest moment without a doubt was being presented with my Black Belt from Mr Plant. Coming a very close second was winning gold in sparring at the 2015 English open.

I enjoy watching football, eating out, watching movies and am an avid watch collector, with a collection of over 25 watches.

Dylan:

I started TKD at the age of 6 (I’m now 11). I started for self-defence, to learn respect, for keeping fit, and for fun. The thing I like best is sparring.

I support my training outside of the dojang by doing practice at home – especially if I’m preparing for a competition or a grading. My proudest achievement is achieving black belt in March 2016! My other hobbies are football, guitar, computer games, card/board games, films, reading. Something you probably don’t know about me is that I’m good at Geography!

Jack:

I started TKD in January 2016. I started TKD to learn self defence and improve my confidence. The best thing I like about TKD is learning new patterns.

I support my training by practicing my patterns, punches and kicks. I either look through the handbook myself or my mom asks me questions, so hopefully I will never forget things.

My proudest moments are when I do my gradings and pass. My other hobbies are swimming, riding my bike, playing with Lego and playing on my PS4. Something you don’t know about me is that i love anything to do with Minecraft and i’m fascinated with high speed trains and fast cars (speed). I love watching Top Gear.

Charlie:

I started Taekwondo in July 2015, I started because I wanted to learn self defence and a prior interest in martial arts. My favourite thing about Taekwondo is sparring.

My proudest moment is taking part in the competition in July 2016 despite the fact I didn’t come out with any medals. My other hobbies are Gaming, socialising and listening to music.

I hate football and much prefer Rugby.

Sam:

I started TKD in January 2015 as I wanted to gain fitness and strength after having serious issues with my back for a few years. I brought my son Jack along as I thought it would be great for him too. Of all the great things about TKD, the thing I like most is the people. Everyone is so helpful and supportive, even members of other clubs at gradings and competitions.

Outside the dojang I also run, lift weights and work on my TKD techniques. My proudest moment was gaining my first belt (yellow tag) and also seeing Jack earn his. My other hobbies include walking, woodworking, and spending time with my family and dog. Something you don’t know about me is I’m 33 and I still play way too many computer games! Also lego!! And toy cars!

Harry:

I started taekwondo 3 years ago. I started because my brother and my dad did it so I was desperate to have a go and couldn’t wait to be 5 to go. The best thing I like is the stretching and sparring. I practice these at home and now I can do the splits I also practice my patterns at home to try and get better my proudest moments have been when I got my yellow tag belt and when I won my first medal at the competition. I have lots of other hobbies I do football gymnastics dodgeball cubs and Bridgnorth stage academy which I have just got a part in Annie. Something I don’t think you know about me is that when I’m older I would like to be an astronaut or an actor. Thank you Harry Lewis.

Freddie:

I started TKD around February this year (2016) to learn something new. What I like best is learning patterns and watching the higher belts train. I play league football to keep fit. My proudest achievement or moment in TKD is getting my first belt. My hobbies are playing football and Xbox and reading. I have a little kitten called Milo 😺

Aubrey (also known as Michelangelo):

I started TKD in 2008. I started as my son Jake started in 2007 and while watching him I thought it would be a good idea if we both did it to spur each other on. Now I’m a bit more experienced I enjoy helping others with new patterns etc – for my training I enjoy sparring the most. I do a lot of sport with my kids and with Jake we do a lot of practice at home.

My proudest moments in TKD are all Jake’s achievements. For my own achievement it would be passing my black tag as it was the first belt I passed after being seriously ill for quite a long time.

I enjoy doing track days on both cars and my bikes. I enjoy watching Disney and Pixar films!

Chloe: I started TKD in 2012 (I think!) and I started because I have always wanted to learn self defence and work on my fitness and flexibility. My favourite part is the sparring and also the flexibility and fitness exercises we do – I enjoy the patterns also however I’ve never been the most co-ordinated person alive so sometimes I do struggle with putting some of the moves together. When I’m not training I try and do as much stretching as possible at home and jogging – however my work life is very hectic so I try and squeeze in as much as I can. My brother also has a BOB at his house so I try and practise kicks and combinations on that when I can.

My proudest TKD moment is winning Gold in the ladies sparring at Cheltenham and winning silver for the team patterns (beating a Black belt team!) My other hobbies include crochet, travelling, socialising and my cats! I can play several musical instruments including the bass guitar, trumpet and keyboard.

Dan: I started TKD in 2007, when I was 7. I started because my brother was doing it and it looked really enjoyable.

I really enjoy doing kicking and one step sparring. I enjoy having challenges and managing to overcome them. I practice with my brother and I try to use the tenets of TKD in my everyday life. My proudest moment is when I achieved my 1st degree black belt after I had failed it, because I persevered.

Something you don’t know about me: I regularly go to watch the football team that I support, Nottingham Forest. I actually used to be scared of the Kiap shouts that we do at TKD, when I was younger!

Ben: I started TKD in October 2015. I started TKD because I wanted to try something new and also because some of my friends had told me how great it was. I’m not into sports like rugby and football like my brother so I thought TKD would be ideal for me and would be good exercise too. I also didn’t have much confidence before TKD so I thought it would help my confidence; and it has enormously!

One of my favourite things is learning new patterns. My favourite so far is the Dan Gun Tul pattern. I also enjoy making new friends from different schools. I practise my patterns and defensive drills at home. I also read my GTI handbook to learn my theory.

My proudest achievement or moment in TKD has to be when I was presented with my yellow stripe belt. I had been nervous at my first grading so I didn’t know if I’d passed so I was delighted that I had! I was also proud when I won the poster competition at Christmas as it meant I could train in the number 1 black belt position. I really want to be a black belt and train in that spot in the future!

I love everything connected to Star Wars and I enjoy making Lego models. I also enjoy swimming, kayaking, chess, reading and playing on my Xbox.

I have a giant rabbit called Pluto who is amazing at dribbling a football! I also have an attic room filled with Lego models and sets that is like a mini Legoland!

Dave: I started because I had always had an interest in martial arts and having previously had an ACL reconstruction and micro fracture surgery on my left knee I hoped the training and stretching would assist my recovery.

I enjoy all aspects of Tkd from learning the patterns, and the history of the art but most of all testing myself in the sparring arena. Not forgetting, feeling part of a huge family, a Tkd family.

I support my training in the dojang by working on my fitness in a self styled home gym that used to be my garage. With treadmill, weights bench and heavy punch bag installed I can work out anytime.

I have been lucky enough to have several proud moments on my Tkd journey so far. Getting an ‘A’ in my first grading, wining three gold medals at three GTI competitions but my proudest moment and biggest surprise was being awarded student of the year.

My other hobbies are reading, fishing but mainly football. I’ve played amateur football for as long as I can remember and I currently manage Riverside FC, a Bridgnorth amateur men’s football team playing in the mercian league and Telford Sunday league. I have held this position for approximately eight years or so.

Something you don’t know about me:

I like the thrill of danger.

I’ve had three close encounters with the grim reaper. Two scuba diving the scuttled German fleet in scapa flow Scotland and another falling off a Scottish mountain while ice climbing.